The Tale of Mismatched Max

Some info about the project


This is a dark fairytale, Kinect-based world with an emphasis on physical movement. A little boy, Max, has been cut into pieces by the mysterious Slash Stasher. The player controls a spirit that posesses Max's disembodied torso and attempts to reassemble him.

  • Role: Lead Game Designer, Sound Designer
  • Period: 2 weeks
  • Platform: kinect running on PC
  • Genre: Full Body Engagement Collection
  • Concept:encourage wacky movement in the player and tell a dark, yet silly story.
  • How to play:Crouch, move, and jump in a room full of floating body parts (Kinect-based movement is directly mapped to an onscreen character). The floating body parts simply attach to Max when they collide with his torso. But not all body parts are Max's own, and body parts may attach to the wrong locations. In order to correct such mistakes, the player must shake off the foreign body parts. The game ends when Max is assembled or when time runs out--at which point Max is stuck with whatever creepy assemblage of parts he's recovered.
  • Post Mortem:
    • What went right
      • - The controls were tuned repeatedly to allow for full body play to feel good
      • - A dynamically changing kinect controlled character is relatively unique
      • - I had the wonderfull opportunity to work with Anthony Daniels (C3PO from Star Wars)
    • What went wrong
      • - Variance due to accidental limb connection can make the game really easy or really difficult sometimes
      • - Some art elements broke tone: namely the bloddy bag
      • - The end screen is empty and dull

Programs Used


  • Autodesk Maya
  • Unity
  • Adobe Photoshop